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Strange Industrial Era Inventions

Weird Inventions from the Industrial Revolution

“Daring Ideas are like chessman moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game” – Johaan Wolfgang

People have been building “daring ideas” since the dawn of the industrial area when inventors, manufacturers and eager consumers created an exciting market for new products. From helping people better their opera singing skills to building all terrain bicycles there has been few industries inventors have not touched. While not all of these ideas gained the commercially success the inventor hoped for they did offer a unique solution to a problem. Here a few of our favorites!

1) Amphibious Bicycle

Black-and-white photo of a man riding an amphibious bicycle fitted with four large floats
A land sea bike for the modern man

2) Bike Tire Swimsuit

Vintage photo of swimmers on a dock wearing bicycle inner tubes as swimsuits
Swimming accessories to swim faster in water

3) Apartment Window Baby PlayPen

Vintage photo of a baby sitting in a wire cage hung outside an apartment window
A strange solution to lack of home space

4) Man-Powered Passenger Cart

Black-and-white photograph of two Japanese rickshaws, each pulled by a man, carrying seated passengers
Inspired by horse-powered carriages, this Japanese invention predated cars

5) Multitasking Rotating Desk

Antique wooden rotating reading desk on a tripod stand holding several open books
Made to Thomas Jefferson's specifications for absorbing as much information possible at top speed

6) Paper Hot Air Balloon

Vintage coloured print of an ornate blue and gold paper hot air balloon rising over a town
Built with paper by two French inventors, the first successful human air travel was an extremely odd feat at the time

7) Barrel Submarine

Cutaway illustrations of an 18th-century one-man barrel submarine with hand-cranked propellers
The first-ever military submarine was a giant wooden barrel fit for one

8) Gas-Powered “Unicycle”

Black-and-white photo of a man riding a gas-powered monowheel, seated inside its single large wheel
This one-wheeled motorcycle had a speed of 150 kilometers per hour

9) Dimple Maker

Black-and-white photos of a woman wearing a 1930s Dimple-Maker face brace beside its advertisement
The beauty industry had no shortage of bizarre devices, such as this cheek attachment

10) Steam Engine

steam engine model
While James Watt is credited as the inventor of the steam engine, steam-powered machines have been in the works for millenniums before the Industrial Revolution

11) Sewing Machine

old wooden sewing machine with a hand crank and vintage parts
The first sewing machine design was invented by Thomas Saint, was powered with a hand crank for making leather clothing

12) Railroads

![vintage black and white rail](/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/raildroad-1800s.jpg “Railroads began from roads of rails called “wagonways”, which evolved into railways for steam engine vehicles”)

13) Hansen Writing Ball

Brass Hansen Writing Ball typewriter with keys arranged on a hemisphere
The Hansen Writing Ball from 1870, was the first commercially-manufactured typewriter

14) Edison Standard Phonograph

vintage 1908 phonograph with wax cylinders
The Edison Standard Phonograph came in different models and used wax cylinders
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